Stephen Bier

Stephen Bier
Stephen Bier & Kim (girlfriend) photographed June 11th, 2009
Background information
Birth name	Stephen Gregory Bier Jr.
Born	March 6, 1964 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (age 46)
Genre(s)	Alternative metal, glam rock, hard rock, industrial metal, industrial rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, keyboardist, music producer, sound engineering, programming
Instrument(s)	Keyboard, keytar, synthesizer, electronic drums
Years active	1989–2006
Label(s)	Faultline, Interscope, Scorpian Rising, Empire MusicWerks, Nothing, WYNF, Beat Up Your Mom
Associated acts	Faultline Productions, Marilyn Manson

Stephen Gregory Bier Jr. (born March 6, 1964), better known by his stage name Madonna Wayne Gacy, is a professional musician. He is the former keyboardist for Marilyn Manson, and a current member of Faultline Productions. His stage name is formed from the names Madonna and John Wayne Gacy. He is often referred to as "Pogo," Gacy's clown name.

Biography

Stephen Bier was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to a Jewish father and Catholic mother. His mother taught first grade and his father was a school teacher also. He was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) when he was a child, and was given Ritalin by his parents. As he grew older, he stopped taking the medication because of the way it made him feel. Supposedly having an IQ of over 150, Bier attended college for six years, achieving a degree in computer engineering. After completing college, Bier was convinced by Marilyn Manson to decline a job offering at NASA in order to join Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids as keyboardist. Bier has a fascination with all things German, Japanese, and Kabbalah.

Career

In music

Gacy did not play keyboards until he joined Marilyn Manson. It has been said that it took less time for him to master the keyboard than it took for him to save money to buy one. He was nicknamed "Pogo", early in the history of the band, as neither Madonna nor Gacy seemed to suit his personality, and Pogo was the clown alter ego of John Wayne Gacy.

He has played the following other instruments or sound-shaping techniques on Marilyn Manson's albums as well: acoustic drums, bassoon, calliope, electronic drums, Hammond organ, idiophone, keytar, mellotron, music loop, overdubs, piano, sampling, saxophone, synthesizer, theremin, and other various brass instruments.

He is responsible for much of the Kabbalah and numerology meanings behind Manson's albums, ideally Antichrist Superstar.

In an exclusive conference conducted by Marilyn Manson in April 2007, he revealed the upcoming album Eat Me, Drink Me was recorded in collaboration between himself and Tim Skold. Essentially this meant Gacy did not partake in the album, but not ruling out the possibility of him performing as live keyboardist on the upcoming tour. Later, Manson revealed that Chris Vrenna (who previously drummed for the band during Ginger Fish's hiatus in 2004) would be performing as live keyboardist on the tour, in Gacy's place. This stirred fans' speculations as to whether or not Gacy, who up until this announcement was considered the only member of the band other than Manson himself to never leave for any cause and has been in the band since 1989, had finally left Marilyn Manson.

Lawsuit

On August 2, 2007, Gacy filed a lawsuit against Marilyn Manson seeking a back pay of $20 million dollars. Gacy claimed Manson has been using the band's money for personal interests, among which are his collection of Nazi paraphernalia, his drug addictions, his wedding with Dita Von Teese and the production of Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll. Manson responded to the lawsuit in an interview with MTV:

"The fact that he's claiming that I've treated him unfairly, financially, is really ridiculous," the singer said. "And I would never spend my money on a Chinese girl skeleton. That would be crossing the line. It's a Chinese boy, for the record," he laughed, before continuing. "[Bier and his lawyers are] going for shock value, obviously, and I couldn't be less surprised by how unshocking these things would be to the public."

"I wish there was some sort of legal angle to this whole thing, or some sort of common sense, or just even camaraderie after all the years that we knew each other," Manson added. "I don't have an explanation for it. It just seems like another ex-band member suing me and trying to assassinate my personality as a means to financial gain, and it just seems old. It's just not fair. If I spent my money on anything, it was my family, and paying his salary for a year when we weren't even touring."

Manson stated he will defend himself against the allegations some time in the fall of 2007.

Manson and Bier settled out of court in 2009 for the sum of $380,000 Source.

Trivia

• Pogo is heavily interested in the Occult including but not limited to Numerology, Alchemy, and Kabbalah.
• Gacy's musical influences include Big Black, Black Sabbath, Buffalo Tom, Butthole Surfers, Fear and Ramones.
• He has been described by Manson as ". . . a genius too mad to use his intelligence in any constructive way."
• He hates when people call him Steve, or if people spell his name with a "v" instead of "ph", according to The Long Hard Road Out of Hell.
• Gacy speaks some German.
• He's a big fan of early 20th century horror author H.P. Lovecraft.
• Other than Manson himself, Gacy was the longest lasting member of the band.

External Links

• Stephen Bier at The Internet Movie Data Base
• Stephen Bier Jr. FanPage
• Pogo the Clown French fansite